I Want You
by EphemeralSakura
Summary: Set on the night of FP's confession, Betty and Jughead are walking home together, and for the first time, they're left alone to discuss the storm in which their hearts are trapped. - Bughead


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 **A/N** : Okay, I wrote this right after ep 12 simply because I needed a reconciliation moment between them. Even if things aren't solved in this fic and even if Jug's still going through hell, I felt like I needed to see how they made up (since it didn't feel like they were fighting or separated during ep 12). Hope you guys enjoy it, and please, tell me what you think!

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Loneliness, betrayal and despair. Those were the things following them in that cold, deserted road they walked through during the late hours of the night, as their souls uselessly tried to trace a new path home. The streets were empty, the houses showed no sign of life, and the screaming silent that had taken over the entire town swallowed the sound of footsteps taken by those condemned wanderers. Words remained trapped inside throats, chocking those who were brave and stupid enough to try lightening the mood of the entire town, and the freezing breeze that danced around their bodies was strong enough to show them how low they had fallen on a night that was probably the worst of their lives.

Their minds were heavily filled with doubts and sorrow, and even if they were just kids, they knew exactly how painful were those emotions as they stung their hearts. They were completely alone, and even if they were walking side by side, Betty Cooper could feel a growing distance between her and the broken boy who owns her heart.

It was all her fault.

She could see by the way his limbs were loosened and by how hollow his greenish-blue eyes looked, that Jughead Jones was probably going through the worst breakdown crises of his life. For what she could tell, one, happy night for the Jones boy suddenly became a nightmare after he found out about his friends' betrayal and his father's apparent guilt on the murderer that forever changed their ordinary, small town. They had all lied to him. All of them, including her. And when he tried to escape— because his backpack told her he had, indeed, tried— a thin thread of hope brought him back, only to offer him a place filled with destruction and shallow promises.

That was the life of Jughead Jones. The life of the kid who was old enough to suffer but young enough to be loved. At least that was what his eyes were telling her, as they slowly and silently made their way towards that part of the town where they had both grown up. Betty and Jughead were going home— if he could ever call the Andrew's residence a home— and even if she had secretly wanted to be alone with him ever since the bomb exploded, Riverdale's perfect girl found herself at complete loss of words around him since Archie left to walk Veronica home.

At that moment, they were together and they were alone, just like she wanted.

But what about what he wanted? What about her boyfriend's needs? And could she even call him that? After all the terrible things she did behind his back, were they still together?

Betty knew she didn't have the right to consider him hers anymore. Not until they solved their problems and not until he— if he decided to forgive her for plotting behind his back. She depended on his benevolence and on whatever feeling he still had for her so they could continue moving forward.

She depended on him to keep their relationship alive.

And as soon as his footsteps ceased, the Cooper girl wasn't so sure there was still anything in him that could save them.

" You'll be okay alone, right, Betty?"

His still empty and tragically beautiful eyes looked at her, as she stood a couple meters in front of him. His dark suit was disheveled, his beanie almost falling from his head, and those eyes… Betty could feel her heart slowly breaking with every second he spent looking at her like that. She held back the urge of digging her nails into her palms, for she knew she could not allow herself to give in to her demons until he was fully recovered.

She could not make that whole thing about her. Not again.

The golden girl's lips formed a thin, worried line, as she looked at him with all the care in the world. Her heart was almost breaking free from her rib-cage, and not knowing exactly what he meant was just making her anxiety grow into an unbearable agony.

" What do you mean, Jug? Aren't you going back to Mr. Andrews'?"

He didn't even need to answer for her to know that Jughead had no plans of going back to the place that served as his refugee for the past two months. By the way he gripped the handle of his backpack, Betty could tell he was leaving and that she would, indeed, be left alone.

Alone, like she's never really been before. Her family and her friends have always been there for her, and even the teachers have always showed somewhat of an emotional support whenever her perfect grades dropped a little. She's never truly been alone, but suddenly, as she watched his demeanor slowly saying goodbye to her, the Cooper girl could feel her entire world falling apart.

He was going away. He was walking out of her life.

He was leaving her alone.

And she could not let him do such thing.

" Jughead…" Her voice was rushed, as her baby, blue eyes slowly turned red. Tears threatened to slip from them, but she managed to hold them back." You c-can't leave. Where would you even go?"

" For now, I'll be going back to Pop's… But in the morning…"

Her eyes turned redder, and she suddenly gave in to her own darkness, as she could feel her nails ripping her skin. Her memory brought back his painful words from earlier, and soon, she realized that not only was he leaving her, but he was also leaving Riverdale. He was going home, and even if it hurt, she could not hold him back. Not after that night, and not even if she still believed his father was innocent.

Jughead was innocent, too. And by no means should he suffer the consequences brought upon him by the others.

If he wanted to go home, she would let him go. Even if it hurt, she was going to do that for him.

But his destination was far from the one thing his heart calls home.

" Are you going to Toledo?"

" No, Betty… I'm not."

" Uh? Then… Where are you going, Jug?"

" I don't even remember, to be honest… I'm just… Going."

" What?" Her eyes widened in pure shock, as she was trying to understand the mystery behind the writer's words. If he wasn't going to Toledo to stay with his mother, then where would Jughead Jones go? " Did something happen to your mom?! Or to your sister?!"

" No. They're just fine… It's just that…" A painful smirk grew in his face, and for the first time ever since they left the police station, he showed her an expression different from the emptiness that had overtaken his body. He was exposing his emotions, but somehow, Betty could easily tell just letting it all out wouldn't help him heal. Not at that moment. " My mom doesn't want me."

" Don't say that, Jug." She took a step closer, cutting the distance between them. " She's your mom and—"

" She doesn't want me, Betty!" His voice rose, catching her by surprise and creating a horrified expression in her eyes that lasted for less than a second. " I called her and I told her I was going to Toledo, but guess what!? She told me not to go. She told me that it wasn't a good idea, and you know what? Maybe she's right!"

" Of course she wants you, Jughead!" She tried to hold his hands, but he ran away from her reach, throwing his hands up in a defeated gesture. "S-She was probably surprised or—"

" Scared?"

" I never said that."

" Of course not, but it's pretty obvious, right? The mother who took away her daughter because she was afraid of her husband. She left leaving behind a son, and now that he's become just like his father, she's afraid of him as well."

" It's not like that…"

" Yes, it is… She doesn't want me. Not anymore."

Even if his face showed nothing but anger and rage, the Cooper girl could easily tell how much he was hurt. Normally, Jughead managed to hold his crackling sarcasm in order to hide the truth from the world, but at that moment, more than ever, he was failing miserably as he tried to hide it from her. He was trying to sound reasonable, and he was trying to blame himself for the cruel decision of his mother, but at that moment, she could see that he was just a child, afraid of a love-less world where he would be forced to live.

He was afraid. Afraid of being rejected by the ones he loves simply for being himself.

He was afraid of not being wanted, as his fears and insecurities were all coming back ever since his mother refused his call for help. She said no to her own son, and at that moment, even if Betty didn't know her, she simply hated that woman.

How could she do that to her own son? When he needed her the most, and when he didn't know were else to go, she ignored him.

That woman. Betty hated her.

But at that moment, she could not focus her energies on that useless hatred. Not when the boy she loves was having another breakdown right in front of her.

She needed to help him. She needed to soothe his pain, and try to mend his broken heart. The same heart she crushed that night.

Betty was going to fix things. She was going to fix him. She had to.

" Jug, look, I—"

" Tell me, Betty…" His lips trembled, and she could tell it was his turn to hold back his tears. " Why is it so wrong to be just me? What's wrong with me"

" There's nothing wrong with you, Jug." Her eyes turned redder, as she once again approached him. His head was lowered, and once she realized he didn't back off, Betty took in the chance to place her hands— her corrupted, scarred hands— on his soft cheeks, as if trying to offer him some comfort. She felt him leaning in against her palm, and when he looked her deep in the eyes, she could see a little boy, crying and begging her to tell him things would be alright.

He needed that answer. And she needed him.

" Why does it feel like no one wants me around? Like I have this contagious disease impregnated in my body that eventually sends everyone away? Like I'm a cancer."

" This is not true, Jug… You're not a disease. You're a just boy."

" An unwanted boy… Tch, I'm tired, you know? What did I do that was so bad that I pushed everyone away? My father, my mother, my best friend… You. What did I do?"

" You did nothing, Jughead!" Tears started to stream down her face, and shame started to take over her heart. How could she be so selfish? How could she be crying when he was holding onto everything he had to keep standing? Betty felt weak at that moment, and all the words she had planned to tell him disappeared in the void created by his self-insecurity.

The Cooper girl didn't know what else to do or say.

She just wanted his pain to stop.

Before she knew it, Betty used all of her strength to pull his body into her embrace. She dug her head in his chest, holding him tight as she sobbed uncontrollably against his suit. He could feel her warm tears soaking his shirt, and during that cold night, he had to admit that those tears were the best things that had happened to him.

" Jughead… I want you."

" What?" His heart skipped a beat, but soon recovered its pace as both his and hers started beating at the same time.

" I don't know and I don't care about what your mom told you… And I can't be totally sure your father is innocent, but… I want you. I want you by my side everyday. I'm so so sorry I didn't tell you about the dinner and all— I… I really have no excuse, I'm sorry I was such a terrible girlfriend, but… I want you with me. You can stay at my house, and… and I'll give you my bed, but… Stay. Don't go."

And just like her tears, her words were also truthful and delicate. They were real and filled with love. A love so strong and beautiful he wanted her to cry them all out for him for the rest of her life just so he could keep feeling everything she was pouring out for him.

He wanted to feel loved. He wanted to feel wanted. And at that moment, he could feel it all coming from her.

Coming from the perfectly imperfect girl that had been taking care of his heart.

Once again, she was saving him from himself. And he couldn't thank her enough for that.

After almost 5 full minutes of pure tears falling from her sapphire eyes, Betty Cooper finally felt his arms moving so he was finally answering her gesture. She could feel his now warm palms pressed against her body, and when he rested his face on the crock of her neck, she knew their healing had begun. She felt his deep, tired and warm sigh against her nape, and she knew their feelings were connected. And at that moment, that was the only thing that mattered.

They would be okay. Eventually, they would be okay, not mattering what the world would throw at them. As the kids they are, they will be able to get over anything. Anything at all.

" I could never leave you behind, Betty… I could never leave you alone."

" Oh, Jug…." She smiled, still in tears. " Thank you…"

" No, thank you…"


End file.
